VIDEO: French director Resnais dies at 91

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Alain Resnais, French New Wave director, dies at 91

2 March 2014 Last updated at 12:47 GMT

Acclaimed French director Alain Resnais, whose film career spanned more than 60 years, has died in Paris at the age of 91.

Resnais was often associated with French New Wave cinema but he also embraced modernism and surrealism. His most famous films include Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959).

His last film, The Life of Riley - based on an Alan Ayckbourn play - premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2014.

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Alan Resnais, experimental French director, dies aged 91

VIDEO: Half a million in negative equity

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Negative equity afflicts 'half a million households'

1 March 2014 Last updated at 14:51 GMT

Nearly 500,000 households in the UK are still in negative equity, according to newly released figures.

The situation makes it virtually impossible for homeowners to sell up and move - especially in parts of the country where house prices are falling.

The figures are based on data from more than one million home loans.

Brian Milligan reports.

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Negative equity afflicts 'half a million households'

VIDEO: British soldier who saved Hitler?

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Did British soldier spare Hitler's life in WWI?

2 March 2014 Last updated at 07:18 GMT

Inside Out examines the claim that a British soldier, Warwickshire Pte Henry Tandey, spared Hitler's life in World War One when he could have killed him.

Presenter Trish Adudu talks to Robin Taylor from the Leamington Blue Plaque Committee who believes the story is plausible, but not proven.

He says that Hitler claimed he was wounded on the Western Front and recalled that a British soldier pointed his gun at him and then deliberately did not fire.

Roger Chapman, former curator of the Green Howards Museum, also thinks there is some evidence the story could be true.

But, historian and author of a book on Pte Tandey's life, David Johnson, thinks the evidence suggests the story is an urban myth.

Inside Out looks at the evidence on both sides and asks if Pte Tandey was the man who spared Hitler's life when he was wounded.

Credits: Archive footage is copyright and courtesy of British Pathé. Stills are courtesy of the Green Howards Museum, PA Images and Tony Gordon.

Inside Out is broadcast on BBC One West Midlands on Monday 3, March and nationwide for seven days thereafter on the iPlayer.

VIDEO: Inside a Nigerian private jet

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Inside a Nigerian private jet

2 March 2014 Last updated at 11:12 GMT

Nigerians have spent $6.5bn on private jets, making it the largest market in Africa for luxury aircraft and one of the fastest growing in the world.

More than 100 private planes are said to operating in there - many of them owned by the country's growing number of rich businessmen and women.

Tomi Oladipo reports from Lagos airport.

Watch: Africa Business Report

Isis 'retreating' in northern Syria

28 February 2014 Last updated at 16:49

Syria jihadist group Isis 'retreating after warning'

Fighting between Isis and other rebel groups erupted earlier this year

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Reports from northern Syria say a rebel jihadist group has been pulling back from positions after being given an ultimatum by a rival.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is said to have been retreating towards the city of Raqqa.

The Nusra Front has given Isis until Saturday to accept mediation or face being expelled from Syria.

Infighting between rival rebel groups has seen more than 3,000 people killed in the past two months.

The main confrontation is between Isis and other Islamist militant groups.

'Residents celebrating'

Abu Mohammed al-Julani of the Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, warned Isis on Tuesday that it would be driven from Syria and "even from Iraq" if it did not accept arbitration within five days.

He demanded that Isis halt all military operations against other rebels, and allow an Islamic court to rule on its actions.

The threat came after the killing of an al-Qaeda emissary, Abu Khaled al-Suri, in a suicide attack on in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. Rebel groups blamed ISIS for the bombing.

The latest reports suggest ISIS is taking the threat from the Nusra Front seriously, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says.

Isis's predominantly foreign fighters have been accused of widespread abuses in areas under their control

Isis appears to have pulled fighters out of positions in Aleppo province, where it may fear it is not strong enough to withstand attack.

Videos posted online appear to show residents celebrating in a town that ISIS fighters have left, our Arab affairs editor reports.

The group seems most concerned with protecting the area around its key stronghold, Raqqa, he adds. It has imposed its severe interpretation of Islamic law, including a tax on Christians, in the city.

Isis grew out of the former Islamic State of Iraq (Isi), a jihadist militant umbrella group that included al-Qaeda in Iraq. It is believed to have helped create the Nusra Front in mid-2011.

In April 2013, Isi leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the merger of his group and the Nusra Front - effectively a takeover - and the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

But the move was rejected by Julani and Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's overall leader, who recognised the Nusra Front as its sole Syrian offshoot.

Since then, Isis and the Nusra Front have operated as separate entities, with the latter focusing on toppling President Bashar al-Assad and maintaining better relations with other rebels.

Isis has seemed to be more concerned by territorial gains and implementing its extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

Isis strongholds in rebel-held and contested areas

Warren Buffett firm in record profit

2 March 2014 Last updated at 10:42

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sees record profit

The investment firm run by the US billionaire Warren Buffett has reported a record profit for 2013.

Berkshire Hathaway made $19.5bn (£11.6bn) last year, up from $14.8bn (£8.8bn) in 2012.

"On the operating front, just about everything turned out well for us last year - in some cases very well," Mr Buffett wrote to shareholders.

However it underperformed the S&P 500 share index for the fifth year in a row.

The growth in the company's book value - that is the company's assets minus its liabilities and Mr Buffett's preferred measure of Berkshire's performance - was 18.2% in 2013, while the S&P 500 rose 32.4%.

But Mr Buffett said that was to be expected when the S&P performed well.

"We expect to fall short... in years when the market is strong - as we did in 2013.

"We have underperformed in 10 of our 49 years, with all but one of our shortfalls occurring when the S&P gain exceeded 15%."

He added that the fund had outperformed the stock market between 2007 and 2013 and that through a full six year cycle he expected to do that again.

"If we fail to do so, we will not have earned our pay," he wrote.

Berkshire Hathaway increased its holding in Coca-Cola

Mr Buffett, ranked fourth on the Forbes rich list, pointed to a strong performance in the firm's insurance, rail and energy businesses for the increase in profit.

Blunders

These include the auto insurer Geico, General Reinsurance, Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and the electric utility MidAmerican Energy.

The company increased its stake in the US firms Coca-Cola, American Express, IBM and Wells Fargo but reduced its ownership in the UK retailer Tesco - to 3.7% from 5.2%.

Mr Buffett did acknowledge he had made mistakes in some of his investments in the manufacturing, service and retail industries, some of which saw "very poor returns".

"I was not misled: I simply was wrong in my evaluation of the economic dynamics of the company or the industry in which it operated,'' he said.

"Fortunately, my blunders usually involved relatively small acquisitions. Our large buys have generally worked out well and, in a few cases, more than well. I have not, however, made my last mistake in purchasing either businesses or stocks. Not everything works out as planned."

Guatemala volcano Pacaya erupts

2 March 2014 Last updated at 17:44

Thousands in Guatemala facing evacuation as Pacaya volcano erupts

The volcano, with a height of 2,500m (8,300 feet), is a popular tourist destination

A volcano has erupted in Guatemala, prompting the authorities to consider the evacuation of some 3,000 people living in the area.

The Pacaya volcano began spewing ash and lava after a powerful explosion on Saturday afternoon.

New explosions were seen on Sunday, with ash clouds reaching a height or at least 4km (3 miles).

Flights have been diverted from the area, some 50km (30 miles) south of the capital, Guatemala City.

The Pacaya is one of three active volcanoes in the Central American nation. The other two are the Fuego and the Santa Maria.

"We are assessing with the National Disaster Management Centre (Conred) whether we will need to evacuate the 3,000 people who live in the villages of El Rodeo and Patrocinio," said the Pacaya National Park director, Humberto Morales.

"Access to the areas around the volcano has been suspended," he told the Prensa Libre newspaper.

The Guatemalan authorities have issued an amber alert, the third highest. It means people must remain alert and be prepared to leave the area at short notice.